Wazzup PIlipinas!
It is a back to back victory for Team Suzuki Pilipinas as the Suzuki Asian Challenge (SAC) 2017 season begins at Johor International Circuit in Malaysia. Both Race 1 and 2 saw Team Suzuki Pilipinas riders Mario Borbon Jr. and April King Mascardo grabbing the top place making history once more by having the Philippine national anthem played for the first time at the said racetrack as well as achieving a grand slam win for the country at SAC Round 1.
April King Mascardo, Eane Jay Sobretodo and Mario Borbon Jr. returned at the SAC tracks to show how much they have improved over the years. A Suzuki developmental program, SAC is a one make race competition among nations aiming to hone young riders to be MotoGP racers. The 2017 SAC season sees 16 riders from 9 countries – Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Showing optimism from the very beginning, Team Suzuki Pilipinas already gave promising performances by clinching the pole position at the qualifying race. Mindanao rider April King Mascardo got the pole with the fastest lap time of 1'57.66 breaking last year’s record by less than 2s. Following him on third spot was Luzon rider Eane Jay Sobretodo. Later on Race 1, Visayas rider Mario Borbon, Jr. managed to stay on the lead on the last laps despite the slippery and wet track condition, hence grabbing the 1st top podium win of the season.
During Race 2, Mascardo and Sobretodo were alternately leading on the first laps of the race. However, Sobretodo collided with the other riders during the middle part giving chance to leading Mascardo to isolate himself and continuously led the race. Mascardo’s win gave Team Suzuki PIlipinas their first back-to-back victory at the SAC history!